Fort Bragg Food Bank gives and gets everything possible for clients

Outside the front door of my warehouse at 900 N. Franklin, sat a man on my bench conversing with himself, rocking from side to side. As I walked by, he told me it was wrong to put a leash on the neck of my dog. Next to him was a bag from my neighbor, the Fort Bragg Food Bank.

I thought about evicting him with a jerk of my thumb. But wasn't I supposed to be trying to understand and write about all the people in my part-time job as reporter at this newspaper?

I put the dog in my van and took a box of books to donate to the Food Bank. Being just before noon, the Food Bank was closed for lunch. There were 25 people sandwiched into the waiting room; more either smoked or waited outside.

Today's story was supposed to recreate the experience of applying to be a client. I had pulled the one-page form and found that 22 other people had applied last week an average number. None were rejected as clients. The application has income guidelines, which vary by number of people in the family, but there is no effort to confirm the income of applicants.

With so many people in line on Friday, I didn't want to take the food from them on this day, nor did I want to wait.

So I began to restock and neaten up the books. That morning volunteer Nancy Milano had straightened them all but now they were askew again. That is when I got my blessing. Although it sounds corny, after six years of covering the Food Bank for the annual Season of Sharing, I have come to actually expect a big smile of grace when I give just a little.

The blessing came in the person of Sunyata Palmer as I shelved books. My business is selling books online. We give overflow to the Food Bank. Palmer listed a bunch of books she had taken and read.

"You're the one who leaves those; I've been wanting to say thank you to whoever it was," Palmer said.

I wondered if this would have happened if I had booted out the homeless guy.

"I get food for the mind, food for the body and clothes here at the Food Bank," she said.

She found the Food Bank and its free stuff just when she needed it most. She is in recovery and said other local programs had helped her too, especially Mendocino Coast Clinics.

"A place like this makes me feel nurtured by the community, like people out there care. It makes me want to give back to this community whenever I can," she said.

We talked about some books about Celiac disease I had left and she had read. As she was in search of a good mystery, I pointed out a favorite World War II thriller by Ken Follett and she left.

On Friday, three other people were taking books and three more taking clothes in the waiting room. There were two older women one with a walker and the other breathing assistance. They were laughing and talking. I smiled at everybody I saw. About half smiled back. Some were in their own zone. Others were clearly having a bad day. A well dressed lady looked like she had probably been smiled at by a few too many guys.

One man was too busy to even look at anybody else, but was annoying a few people, talking loudly on a cell phone. His Smart Phone looked new and I felt a bit judgmental.

Does he need to be here? Then I realized his inescapable phone conversations were calls to the Employment Development Department, then to check on a job he had applied for.

The unemployment rate in Mendocino County stands at 8.8 percent, the lowest it has been since 2008, but still two percentage points above the 2004-2007 average.

Many community members bring books, toys, clothes and useful household items most responsibly.

The Food Bank tries to provide a place for free everything, including help with hooking up with EDD, Mendocino Coast Clinics and a bevy of other agencies. Some people have abused the Food Banks' willingness to take everything their clients would need. The abusers have left trash mattresses and couches out front and prompting a heavy duty dump run for the Food Bank. A landlord was caught dumping left behinds from recently vacated houses at one point.

The Food Bank will call police on those dumping garbage, but still wants to give away anything and everything clients need. The Food Bank held a furniture giveaway with the help of a local motel that was remodeling and is willing to undertake more such efforts.

As both a neighbor of the Food Bank and as a reporter, I've been impressed at how the agency finds more and more ways to stretch the dollars that come in.

One program that makes money has been selling cardboard. Another area is an increasing bounty of grant funds. The Food Bank didn't despair when the Federal Stimulus programs ended or when state grant funds became more scarce. Several new sources of grant funds were found this year.

"The Community Foundation of Mendocino County gave us a grant of $2,500, which allowed us to buy a large refrigerated case to keep foods at a safe temperature for our food distribution line, two manual pallet jacks, and a warehouse cart," said Nancy Severy, executive director of the Food Bank.

The Food Bank got a grant of $10,000 from the Mendocino Coast Children's Fund to purchase nutritious kid-friendly food for extra weekly bags for families of school-age children throughout the summer and during the longer school holidays when subsidized lunches are not available.

"We hear from clients how much this is appreciated as the cost of those extra lunches for kids at home can add stress to already tight family budgets," Severy said.

The Food Bank also received $8,200 from FIRST 5 Mendocino to provide milk every week to families with children five or younger.

"This is wonderful, as our budget hasn't otherwise allowed us to offer dairy foods on a regular basis as we've been unable to locate consistent sources of donated dairy foods," Severy said.

The Food Bank also gets grants from state and federal sources.

"We continue to receive food and/or money through the following government programs: USDA commodities through the Emergency Food Assistance Program [federal dollars/California administration]; CSFP, the Commodities Supplement Food Program, which provides monthly Senior Food Foxes [federal]; EFSP, Emergency Food and Shelter Program [federal] and the Mendocino County Department of Health and Human Services," she said.

Season of Sharing

Since the 1996 holiday season, the Advocate-News and The Mendocino Beacon have raised roughly $284,000 through the "Season of Sharing fundraiser, that had its beginnings as, "A Gift of Peace and Thanksgiving," to benefit the Food Bank. Beginning in 1999, The Mendocino County Community Foundation, which is dedicated, in part, to helping local nonprofit organizations, began administering this fundraiser free of charges as a courtesy to the newspapers; this enables all donations to continue to directly benefit the Food Bank every cent taken in by the newspapers goes to them.

"There are many dozens of nonprofit organizations in our area, all very worthy of support, but the Food Bank addresses the most basic problem facing hundreds of individuals and families hunger," said Publisher Sharon DiMauro.

"We support many community causes, but the Food Bank's cause is the one we get entirely behind. We can't address other problems if hunger isn't addressed first, said DiMauro. "Every single penny donated goes to the Food Bank. The old adage, "To give is better than to receive' is true, and there is a very real need for charity in our community.

" The goal is to give the Food Bank money it can use year-round, not just during the holidays. It doesn't matter a bit whether a person contributes through our fundraiser or directly to the Food Bank, the main thing is to contribute and if you're able, to give year-round."

DiMauro added that residents are encouraged to contribute throughout the year through cash donations, by donating non-perishable food items, and by recycling paper bags, egg cartons and cardboard through the Food Bank.

Checks should be written out to The Community Foundation of Mendocino County(CFMC). Mail them to the Advocate-News at P.O. Box 1188, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 or bring them to the newspaper office, located at 450 N. Franklin St., Fort Bragg, just north of City Hall.

The fundraiser runs through Dec. 31. The names of all donors who contribute through the newspapers will be printed each week, unless they request to remain anonymous.